7/8/13

camp max

saturday we all gathered up together in the rain to celebrate max and his birthday...summer camp-style. we made a nice fire and lit up lanterns while the little ones ran wild in the woods. food was grilled and sweets were had and i couldn't think of a better way to ring in max's 9th year.

today is max's official day! this time last year we were celebrating him in between my contractions with phoebe. she's never one to miss a party!

omgoddness! I have looked at this post like 10 times today. What a special bday party!!! Max is one lucky kid to have such a caring, creative and wonderful Mom like you! Love just shines through these pictures.

Goodness. I can't get over these pictures. You seem like such a fun and amazingly creative mom. I think I'm going to need to channel some of your skillz-- we just moved into a large cabin in the pacific northwest and I'm thinking this sort of party would be so fun for my Graeme's fourth birthday coming up. (Thank you for being so generous with your source list, too!)

Oh my gosh Katie! I am so in LOVE with all of the details, but more so all of the SMILES! You can tell how much fun everyone is having, and Max is just so lucky to have a Mama like you, you creative goddess you! ;)

That looks like such a fun party, but I would urge you to be careful not to base costumes on cultural stereotypes. Around Halloween, members of different marginalized groups participate in the We're a Culture, Not a Costume campaign (you can read more about it on CNN) to raise awareness for how hurtful stereotypes like this can be to real-life people whose heritage is often minimalized and reduced to a few misunderstandings from generations ago. Year round, examples of Native/First Nations appropriations are archived here http://this-is-not-native.tumblr.com/ and you can check out the information that the moderators include with each post for more information than I can provide on why it is not good to dress up in imitations of war bonnets.

Again, your party looks lovely, and it's totally possible to have fun and plan something great without participating in cultural appropriation.

I've got to second what Meghan said. I adore your lovely blog, and have been a regular reader for what seems like forever. My heart sank when I saw the war bonnet/headdress photos. It's difficult to talk about, and it's especially difficult to talk about without seeming like a killjoy or a nit-picky jerk, but I have to say something. Such appropriation can be hurtful and degrading. I'll just leave it at that.